WALK on . . .

My People,

Good Morning! What a wonderful day it is, when you know you have been given the grace to live another beautiful day. Here I am, with all my love wishing you the Peace of Jesus, and the love of a gentle and loving Mama Mary.

Hope is a wonderful thing. Below are the words that I came across in one of Mother Teresa’s article, “Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin."

15th September, 2013, on a Sunday on my way from the Church to home, we were walking through the fair of the Mount, when all of a sudden I felt the flap of a heavy wing on the back of my neck. That very moment I knew it was an angel.

For the entire week I have felt the presence of Padre Pio with me. I cannot understand why I must feel this way. I am a sinner except for the grace of God, who am I to deserve all of God’s amazing goodness?

 

Love is so much more than words can ever say. If in my human capacity, I sat to write, I think I would never be able to fathom the depths of love. Because love is never just a word, it never can be. This is my humble point of view:

Love is a precious gift,
That cannot be bought or sold,
But its value is more than a mountain made of gold.
When you ask God for a gift,
Thank Him for when He sends,
If ever you think of what to ask
Ask for a Love that never ends.

 

God is encountered walking, along the path with us. God is in everyones life. God is always a surprise, you never know where and how you will find Him.

God is, by definition, the one walking the path along with us.

 

Touch wood is something that we say or do in order to ward off evil. The relic (in this case, the piece of wood supposedly part of the Cross) was carried in one's pocket and at the hearing of plague or other misfortune would be touched for protection and safety because of the belief that Jesus (the Son of God) had defeated the powers of darkness by His death on the Cross. There is nothing else in the whole wide world that will ever keep you safe from evil other than the Cross and the Bible. I will say it again – Nothing else in this world. It is never a matter of choice, YOU have to believe.

Walk on with dreams in your heart … this is what I was humming to myself at work. One of the people asked for help and when helping I saw his name ‘Walken’- (isn’t it similar to walk on). Email that was received stated that if there were any queries we need to walk up to the concerned person. Three times, on the same day and ‘Walk-On’ was God’s message to me.

The 26th of September, 2013, I was speaking with a non-catholic friend. She was in terrible pain. She told me how she stopped believing in God. Her family is always facing some problem over the other.

This is what I said there are children who have been orphaned-and some just having a single parent. While they could wish for moments with both their parents that simply is not the condition. I looked at her and said you have your parents, maybe things at the moment are not working favourably, but cherish the moments, with them.

And I reminded her that God always understands.

She told me so many other things of her life. I just asked her to believe in God. I told her that God can do the Impossible.

She asked me if I implemented it. I replied ‘Yes”. I told her that I have the patience in what God has promised me, God will deliver. God is faithful.

After the 7:30 p.m. mass today, there were heavy showers of rain. I did not feel like walking at all in the rain, so I sat for sometime more. I had my umbrella with me. I was in conversation with God, and I was told to go walk and enjoy the rain. I got up and did just that. I enjoyed my walk in the rain.

I love walking in puddles of water (clean). I saw kids in the building who were playing in a dirty puddle of water I showed them a clean one to play in. They were playing with dirty bags, so I asked why not make paper boats and make them sail. They told me the boat would sink. I said it won’t. Then I left. I was waiting for the lift, 2 minutes later, one of the little fellow comes up, I asked him what the matter was, and he told me he was going to get paper from home to make boats. He moved my heart.

 

 

God is willing to meet us anywhere and anytime, but we need to come into His presence with a heart that acknowledges the presence of the King.
Isn't it interesting we are willing to wait for hours, standing in line, to catch a glimpse of some celebrity - yet we think nothing of running into the presence of God?

There are different things that get us excited, that cause us to shout for joy.

Did you know that you are called to Worship the Lord and that the Lord even tells you how to do it?

Psalm 100 shows us the pathway into God's presence.

"Shout triumphantly to the Lord, all the earth". Psalm 100:1

As we walk down the path to worship God, we simply cannot be quiet. God isn't so much interested in our tone and pitch as He is in our heart felt expression. It is you expressing your love and thankfulness to God.

"Serve the Lord with gladness. Come before Him with joyful songs".   Psalm 100:2

The psalmist here speaks of a specific and personal activity of praising God. We glorify God by ascribing to Him the honour and adoration due Him because He is God. You sing to God from your heart, you serve the Lord with gladness.

Through our singing we approach God. It is us acknowledging that He is God and that we are His creatures. So when it comes to singing, sing loud. Express yourself.

"Acknowledge that the Lord is God".   Psalm 100:3

As a person enters the Church and dips their hands into the holy water and does the sign of the cross to recognize that we are entering into the presence of the King of kings. We remind ourselves as to whom God is, and, at the same time, we are reminded of who we are, too.

No matter what our condition be we should praise the Lord when we look to His goodness and mercy.
 

"Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise.  Give thanks to Him".   Psalm 100:4

As we enter God's presence we enter His gates with thanksgiving - here we thank God for what He has done. Once through the gates, we enter the courts with praise - here we extol God for who He is.

Praise is the way into worship, and worship is the way into an encounter with the living God. While God is everywhere (omnipresence), God's revealed presence occurs when we worship God. God is enthroned in our praises. Thus, our praise creates the atmosphere for an audience with the King.
 

"Praise His name!"  Psalm 100:4

The word praise means to kneel in worship. It is to show honour to God, by kneeling before Him as the King of kings. True worship always involves falling at the feet of God.

Why on our knees? It is because we are in the presence of the King, the God of the universe.

God’s faithfulness doesn’t depend on me but on the character of God that spans the generations. Here are three things I know for certain:

The Lord is good

His mercy endures forever

His faithfulness continues from generation to generation.

 

When I walk in to my office compound, it’s around 6:25 a.m. I love the feeling. The trees all have numbers on them. To me each number represents passages from the Bible. I am not aware of what they mean but I know they are all promises. The Bible is a promise itself, kept by God. So I know, where I am, is where God intended me to be. I am Blessed, I am.

There are two ways to entering in. As I am early the main entrance is shut and so I have to walk on through to get to the other gate. I love that walk. Every time, I do I feel like I am walking in Heaven. Let me describe the walk for you. I hear the birds chirp to glory. And theirs is not a song that stops. It’s continuous. The place has tall widespread trees completely branched out. They seem to be meeting each other in a cuddle to form an arch way (to meet in the middle). I think over time, the trees just couldn’t help but greet each other the way the birds of the air do. There is love all over. It’s a Heavenly walk. Below is the snapshot I have taken especially for you.

 

This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no man than this that a man lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you.  John 15:12-14

We might not be expected to literally lay down our life for others, but we are called to work for their good, even if it comes at a cost to us. Christ is not telling us that our love is manifest only if we die for someone else. Rather, He is telling us that we must overcome ourselves we must die to the self.

As we spiritually develop, we will become people more concerned about others than ourselves. We must learn how to think of their needs. In doing so, we will be helping ourselves become the people we are meant to be. True love will be concerned about the well-being of the other. One who loves will act out of that love, and they will act without pondering the consequences of their actions for themselves.

 

Every day, I watch people choose the other path. They will complain, they will nag but in all the offensive talk they will never ever talk the truth to the person concerned.

There is a fear in speaking the truth. There is a fear in doing the right thing.

To take seriously Jesus' claims about setting us free is to take seriously the proposition that we are all enslaved to powers beyond our ability to control.

“Truth” refers to the knowledge of God as revealed in Jesus' own self. Jesus is "the way, and the truth, and the life". When we know and believe that Jesus is the Son of God, we are set free. “and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free." John 8:32

 

The last week was mentally agonisingly tough. Misery is what I felt. When I sank to my lowest, the Holy Spirit made me think of Mother Teresa. And then it occurred to me mother Teresa lifted babies from the bin. She cleaned the lepers, she saw unwanted and dying people. What were her thoughts like when she saw the miseries of the miserable, the people who no one wanted? She looked after them. What did she do when she experienced total darkness? Its only when it’s the darkest the light makes sense. Faith is tested in the darkest hour. That is where you don’t just say touch wood-You believe in the Power of the Cross. You find, Jesus, You find love. Like Mother Teresa, she found in her heart the capacity to find love.

To love when everything is wonderful it doesn’t take much. Does it?

To love when everything in you hurts-when you are completely broken, that is the love that comes from God.

When the ‘Holy Spirit’ made me realize that, I realized what it felt for Jesus. How difficult it must have been to live with Judas (the one who betrayed). Yet Jesus gave him the same miracle working capacities that Jesus gave the other apostles. There was no distinction made. Jesus loved with all His heart. That’s the way we need to love.

LOVE WHEN IT HURTS THE MOST.

 

I love a person’s capacity to be bold with honesty. I love it when a person can speak what’s on their mind and not think twice or hold it back. I love the capacity to not twist the truth to suit another person’s convenience. I love when a person can speak with passion for the thing they love. I love boldness, I always have.

For years, I walked always asking God is there no one who is bold, who can speak their mind as to what they see? I felt very alone.

You always hear people speak big things but that is not boldness. To me the day I went to St. Peter’s – the rally of the Cross, about 3 1/2 years back that is the day, I will always cherish in my heart. That is the day, I heard Fr. Warner. I will never forget that day and how God liberated me. Up to the day, I had waited forever. 

I have heard Fr. Warner before, but that would be always in the church. But to hear him talk so boldly made me feel taller than the Statue of Liberty (my favourite historic monument). Maybe I didn’t dance the way David did to God. But even now, I thank God. I know, I always will, God liberated me!

May 3rd 2013 & 28th - 29th September, 2013. Praise be God!

 

I believe when You say,
That You will guide me through the way.
The words You speak are the words You say.
Every moment of every day,

I will walk when I cannot see,

Because, Oh God, this is Your will for me.

Help me to overcome my fears,

Knowing Your faithfulness to the years
When I’m broken oh Lord, I pray, for Your grace,
to be with me through the day.

I will walk when I cannot see,

Because oh God of mine, You abide in me!

With all my Love,

For Love Prevails!
AnitA.

 

 

 

PRAYER: Abba, Father, Keep me Obedient and always faithful. Remember, this your servant.

Mama Mary by the merit of your humility keep me humble, I pray. Amen.